The UCLA Basketball team just announced the non-conference portion of their upcoming 2016-17 season which includes games against Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State and a dance in the Wooden Legacy.
UCLA Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford is continuing his tradition of scheduling tough non-conference teams as it was announced today that the Bruins will be playing Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State and participate in the three-day Thanksgivind weekend event, the Wooden Legacy.
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Per UCLABruins.com, Alford stated, “We’re confident that this non-conference schedule is not only going to go a long way towards helping our team prepare for Pac-12 play, but ultimately it’s going to pay dividends for us in March.”
Last season the Bruins had a very good non-Conference season going 9-4 which included wins over ranked teams like Kentucky and Gonzaga. Unfortunately, UCLA Basketball was not ready for conference play as Alford stated in his discussion with college basketball analyst John Rothstein.
This year Alford looks to rewrite the script and have his team go against some good teams in their non-conference schedule, in hope that it prepares them to step up their game when conference play rolls around.
Here is the full non-conference schedule:
UCLA Bruins
Fri, Nov 11 vs Pacific
Sun, Nov 13 vs Cal State Northridge
Thu, Nov 17 vs San Diego
Sun, Nov 20 vs Long Beach State
Nov 24, 25, 27 at Wooden Legacy at Fullerton and Anaheim
Wed, Nov 30 vs UC Riverside
Sat, Dec 3 at Kentucky
Sat, Dec 10 vs Michigan
Wed, Dec 14 vs UC Santa Barbara
Sat, Dec 17 vs Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas)
Wed, Dec 21 vs Western Michigan
UCLA Basketball plays a total of 13 games in the non-conference, with eight of them being at home, which includes a battle versus Michigan. The Bruin’s only true road game is December 3 at Kentucky when the Bruins play in Rupp Arena for the first time ever.
UCLA plays four neutral site games with the first three coming in the Wooden Legacy which will take place on November 24 (Thanksgiving Day), 25 and 27. The first two dates will take place at Cal State Fullerton and the third at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Wooden Legacy (which has not finalized the schedule), will include Cal State Northridge, Dayton, Nebraska, New Mexico, Portland, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and UCLA.
UCLA’s second to last non-conference game puts them back in the CBS Sports Classic as they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. The UCLA Basketball team then finishes the non-conference with a home game against Western Michigan before they start Pac-12 play.
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